Comments on: One Sweet Severance Package & Other Tales of the ABA http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/39398 Feel Smart Again Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:44:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: David de la Fuente http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/39398/comment-page-1#comment-419270 David de la Fuente Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:36:03 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=39398#comment-419270 Terry Pluto's "Loose Balls" is one of those great sports oral histories that's a blast to read and can be finished off in an evening. It's definitely one of my favorite sports books ever and has page after page of memorable anecdotes, like the guys who squabbled on court and then ran to get their guns in the locker room, tough guy John Brisker, Mr. Sexy Wendell Ladner, and anything about Marvin Barnes. It's a book that'll make you wish rival leagues like that were still around. Terry Pluto’s “Loose Balls” is one of those great sports oral histories that’s a blast to read and can be finished off in an evening. It’s definitely one of my favorite sports books ever and has page after page of memorable anecdotes, like the guys who squabbled on court and then ran to get their guns in the locker room, tough guy John Brisker, Mr. Sexy Wendell Ladner, and anything about Marvin Barnes. It’s a book that’ll make you wish rival leagues like that were still around.

]]> By: Cameron Barlow http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/39398/comment-page-1#comment-228942 Cameron Barlow Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:24:13 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=39398#comment-228942 Keith, I think you need to check your maths for the TV money. You state 'the brothers received $2.2 million up front, and receive one-seventh of the TV money received by each of those four surviving ABA teams'and 'it has turned out to be slightly more than a four-seventh share, as the merger agreement specifies that their share may only be split across 28 teams.' It should be slighty more than a 1/49th share as 4/28*1/7=1/49. The actually amount they get is 2/105ths. The formula is (total TV money minus 2/30th of total TV money) * (4 expansion teams/28 teams)*(1/7th share) whcih is approx $14.6m. Keith,

I think you need to check your maths for the TV money. You state ‘the brothers received $2.2 million up front, and receive one-seventh of the TV money received by each of those four surviving ABA teams’and ‘it has turned out to be slightly more than a four-seventh share, as the merger agreement specifies that their share may only be split across 28 teams.’ It should be slighty more than a 1/49th share as 4/28*1/7=1/49. The actually amount they get is 2/105ths. The formula is (total TV money minus 2/30th of total TV money) * (4 expansion teams/28 teams)*(1/7th share) whcih is approx $14.6m.

]]> By: Tamsyn http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/39398/comment-page-1#comment-228478 Tamsyn Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:13:14 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=39398#comment-228478 Wow, I am not with it tonight; I totally thought this was about ABBA. This makes a bit more sense now... I wondered why the fab four of Sweden (it's Sweden, right?) needed severance packages. Wow, I am not with it tonight; I totally thought this was about ABBA. This makes a bit more sense now… I wondered why the fab four of Sweden (it’s Sweden, right?) needed severance packages.

]]> By: Bert http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/39398/comment-page-1#comment-228407 Bert Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:12:06 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=39398#comment-228407 As far as rival leagues go, the WHA could be considered alongside the ABA as having the most significant effect on the operations of the league they eventually merged with. They also featured four teams that merged with the NHL (Winnipeg, Hartford, Edmonton, and Quebec City), had the first million-dollar contract ever signed in professional hockey (Bobby Hull), and counted many current and future superstars among their ranks, including a young Wayne Gretzky. In fact, the reason Wayne did not win the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year in his first NHL season was because his first "pro" season was spent with Edmonton in the WHA. As far as rival leagues go, the WHA could be considered alongside the ABA as having the most significant effect on the operations of the league they eventually merged with. They also featured four teams that merged with the NHL (Winnipeg, Hartford, Edmonton, and Quebec City), had the first million-dollar contract ever signed in professional hockey (Bobby Hull), and counted many current and future superstars among their ranks, including a young Wayne Gretzky. In fact, the reason Wayne did not win the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year in his first NHL season was because his first “pro” season was spent with Edmonton in the WHA.

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